'Kids referred to as numbers in detention'

Asylum seeker children being held in detention near Darwin are being referred to by identification number rather than name, a lobby group says.

ChilOut, which is committed to getting children out of detention, says advocates that regularly visit centres have reported a number of concerns about the treatment of detainees in detention at Wickham Point near Darwin, which currently holds about 1450 people in two facilities.

"We've heard that children are being called by their identification number - their boat number and arrival number, rather than by name," ChilOut spokeswoman Sophie Peer told AAP.

She said children allegedly have to line up for long periods at mealtimes, that parents haven't been permitted to give kids snacks outside of those designated times, and that parents of babies are being issued three nappies a day and no more.

A Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) spokesman told AAP they are aware of the claims and the matter is under investigation.

"We are committed to ensuring that all people in community detention are treated with dignity and respect - all DIAC and Serco staff have been instructed and expected to refer to people in immigration detention by their name," he said.

"Should a member of Serco staff be found not to be communicating and interacting appropriately with people in immigration detention, they will be counselled ... or, at its most serious, removed from their role."

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There are 17 pregnant women being held at Wickham Point, and Ms Peer says there has been a shortage of maternity items, with women needing sanitary products issued one at a time "and are being forced to repeat that undignified request many times a day".

"If they need it, they get it," the DIAC spokesman said, but could not confirm whether sanitary items are being handed out one by one.

Ms Peer said the allegations relate only to Wickham Point, and said referring to people by number is extremely harmful.

"If that's their first encounter with officials in Australia and they're not even given a name, what that does to a child is incredibly damaging," she said.

"It's (very) demoralising, and the indefinite nature of detention means nobody knows if or when they'll escape a situation like that."